To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles [1], but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those — or excerpts thereof — in the Odds ‘n Sods Column or in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!
Jim Reports:
We got all of our hay safely into the barn early in the week, just before some rain showers. Praise The Lord! That was exhausting, but satisfying. After that, I finally got back to finishing up our annual firewood cutting. I always keep a reserve of firewood on hand, but I like to cut my annual “quota”, each year.
After helping Lily pit a big batch of cherries for preservation, this left about two pounds of Bing Cherry pits. I planted these in damp spots in about 30 places around our ranch. We’ll see what happens…
With a big sale in progress, I’ve been very busy all this week padding, boxing, and mailing out gun orders for my Elk Creek Company [2] side business. That sale ends tonight at midnight, Pacific Time. Be sure take a look, and get your order in before the sale ends!
Now, Lily’s part of the report…
Avalanche Lily Reports:
Dear Readers,
We had nice weather this week. We had three days of clouds, two days of rain that dumped 1.1 inches for us at the ranch and the rest of the week mild temperatures reaching about 84 degrees Fahrenheit.
This was another week that was all about picking and preserving berries: Black, Red, and Golden raspberries. Also, harvesting more tart cherries. I also harvested the first Zucchinis and chopped and froze them. We invited some friends over to pick razzes. They left with a full gallon plus.
I made three quarts of Raspberry juice and canned it. It was so yummy. I had some left over that went right into the fridge. We’ve been pouring it over our salads. Yum!
Miss Violet and I pitted the cherries and froze them.
I made a lovely Tart cherry pie that was almost to die for. It was that yummy!
We brought in the last of the hay, early in the week.
I cleaned out the Dairy flock’s protective shelter. Next week, Lord willing, our neighbor will come with his tractor to scrape out the two sheep pens and the cow corral. We always have to wait until midsummer so the hay and manure has had a chance to rot down a bit and dry out. Otherwise, his tractor can’t handle it.
Of course, I’m still milking and making yogurt every few days.
I weeded the parsnips this week and more of the onions. The broccoli is beginning to come on.
We went swimming a couple of times.
May You All Remain Safe, Blessed, and Hidden in Christ Jesus,
– Avalanche Lily, Rawles
o o o
As always, please share and send e-mails of your own successes and hard-earned wisdom and we will post them in the “Snippets” column this coming week. We want to hear from you.